I'm not too keen to know what cut is what, the cut I watched had the Alien burst out of an ox, it sounds like another cut had it burst out of a dog. I've seen these images in the past. I take it it didn't make the final cut.

As an aside, was it just me, or did the alien change in scale throughout the film? Some shots it looked tiny, others, huge.

The Ox is the producer's cut - the dog is the original theatrical cut (although it's a Rottweiler, and not the dog you posted, which is actually a stand-in for the alien itself). I actually prefer the dog birth scene, since it's far more traumatic. Otherwise, the producer's cut is superior in every way (yes, it's still a fucking mess, but there's a bit more logic to it).

The alien is the wrong size in almost every shot. Just terrible shot blocking during shooting/pre-production, I suppose.

Do I continue? I've procrastinated on these damn films for so long. Alien is a masterpiece. Aliens scared me off from continuing on, I think I watched that one in 2003 or 2004. On the DVD boxset. It seemed ok to stop there. Now I have the blu-rays. Dear lord, not sure I can take part 4. What about Alien Vs Predator? Predators?

Alien 4 is, like 3, beautifully shot, but the plot is utterly absurd - and intentionally so. It's directed by the guy that made Amelie (albeit without his brilliant production partner, which is why the story suffers). It's a fine movie, if you can handle the humour, EXCEPT for the last 15 minutes - which are just Prometheus-level awful. Okay, nothing can be as bad as Prometheus, but this is close. I would recommend being drunk or high when watching part 4. This is as close to a comic book as these movies ever got.

Predator is great if you like guns and sweaty dudes. It's just silly. Even the director says so. Lots of drinking games based on the cheesy dialogue in this movie.

Predator 2 is awesome. It's also a product of its time, and I can't imagine it has aged well for non-fans. Knowing you, you'll find it boring. Bonus - Gary Busey.

Aliens Vs. Predator has some decent bits, but it's a forgettable, horribly mediocre, action film (cool last act, though). AvP part 2 (Requiem?) is a pure horror film - and it starts off SO good, then immediately crashes and burns with an oft-used plot involving horny teenagers on the wrong side of the tracks. Unless you love slasher movies, you should skip it.

Predators has grown on me. It's not great, and Morpheus is just a goofy character - but I end up watching it every time it's on TV. It's also an homage to the first one - with many throwbacks to the original. So, you could just skip the original and watch this one. I think this movie failed, because it wasn't quite cheesy enough to be a cult classic, and not serious enough for casual action movie fans to get the vibe they were going for.

If you like comics, you should find the first three series of Dark Horse's Aliens (ending with Earth War).

I've spoken at length at about all these films so I'll spare everyone the arguments about film quality or color timing issues and the like. I'll say this, ANY issues aside you're an asshole for passing this deal up -- including Prometheus. 20 bucks? Seriously? The Anthology set is easily the best film franchise boxset in existence (the new Halloween set gives it a run for the money, though) and Prometheus is worth owning for the extras alone even if you hate the film.

Buy with confidence (if you haven't already).

_________________"You know the best thing about necrophilia? You don't have to bring flowers. They're usually already there." -- George Carlin

and Prometheus is worth owning for the extras alone even if you hate the film.

Why would anyone care about extras for a film they hate? That seems sort of silly. Alien is worth 20 bucks. Then there's a bunch of films included that I will watch once and say "Well there's a few hours of my life I'm not getting back."

and Prometheus is worth owning for the extras alone even if you hate the film.

Why would anyone care about extras for a film they hate?

I'm as much a fan of the process of making films as I am of the films themselves. If you're in the camp that hates Prometheus (I personally like it) then it is at least interesting to see where it went off the rails. Alien 3 is a great example of this -- my feelings of the film aside, the extras are simply amazing. The supplemental material for Prometheus is among one of the more exhaustive efforts for a single film I've seen in recent years and I argue that it actually enhances my enjoyment of the film. Just seeing the sheer of amount of effort that went into making something like that never gets old for me.

_________________"You know the best thing about necrophilia? You don't have to bring flowers. They're usually already there." -- George Carlin

I'm as much a fan of the process of making films as I am of the films themselves. If you're in the camp that hates Prometheus (I personally like it) then it is at least interesting to see where it went off the rails. Alien 3 is a great example of this -- my feelings of the film aside, the extras are simply amazing.

Alien 3's "Wreckage & Rage" documentary may be the finest dissection of a totally FUBARed big studio production ever assembled...the movie may be a complete mess (even the extended cut is just slightly less messy), but peeling back the layers and seeing just what studio fuckery Fox laid on poor David Fincher is consistently fascinating. I especially liked the look at Vincent Ward's bugshit-crazy draft of the screenplay (in which Ripley -- I shit you not -- crash-lands on a wooden planetoid inhabited by space monks). I wish more making-ofs were as blunt as this, instead of the usual "So-and-so was wonderful to work with, a total pro..." EPK bullshit.

The feature-length documentary on Cleopatra is excellent, and very explicit about how terrible the production was (and nearly caused Fox to fold). I bought the DVD just for this extra, and tossed the movie.

The feature-length documentary on Cleopatra is excellent, and very explicit about how terrible the production was (and nearly caused Fox to fold). I bought the DVD just for this extra, and tossed the movie.

(Of its London premiere) "Afterwards, I raced back to the Dorchester [Hotel] and just made it to the downstairs lavatory and vomited."(Elizabeth Taylor)

"The toughest three pictures I ever made... This picture was conceived in a state of emergency, shot in confusion, and wound up in blind panic."(Joseph L. Mankiewicz)

"I facetiously suggested billing the picture Elizabeth Taylor in Heat, and it took the Fox executives a while to realise that I wasn't really serious."(Rex Harrison)

_________________"When I was a kid I always thought Chewy and Lando were brothers.﻿"

Imagine if the opening title crawl of Return Of The Jedi informed us that Han, Chewie and Leia were all killed in a spaceship crash in-between movies.

That's what's wrong with Alien 3.

I don't care about any of that. Just make a fine film about whatever. It was just dumb and awkward to watch.

Hook has the 3rd best weird basketball scene, following Alien 4's, FYI.

As an aside, Alien fans should probably check out Alien Isolation for modern videogame systems/PC. It's the best Alien thing I've seen that's not a vintage toy or the original film. I've played an hour or so of it, and haven't done much besides be afraid of spooky noises. But the art design is so right! Bioshock meets Alien.

Should I give Aliens a 2nd shot, or will I dislike it as much as I did 10 years ago?

Imagine if the opening title crawl of Return Of The Jedi informed us that Han, Chewie and Leia were all killed in a spaceship crash in-between movies.

That's what's wrong with Alien 3.

I've always found this argument kind of silly. I understand not liking that some characters you liked are gone, but that has no bearing on whether the movie itself is any good. You judge it on its own merits or lack thereof. The writing and film making that comes after that opening scene does not become bad by virtue of that scene.

Besides, it's hardly unusual for sequels to have major events happen between movies. Hell, in your own example the rebels went from a major victory to being in hiding on some ice planet between the first two, and Luke became a Jedi and Leia a faux bounty hunter between the second two. You jump ahead in time, there is a change in status quo, and you take the new story for what it is.

brian wrote:

Should I give Aliens a 2nd shot, or will I dislike it as much as I did 10 years ago?

I've long found it to be terribly overpraised. Watched it recently, too, and still haven't changed my mind about it. It's fine, but no better than that.

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